UVic’s new engineering and computer science building
is another step closer to having a home.

After nearly two hours of discussion at its Feb. 17
meeting, the university’s campus development committee
(CDC) recommended that the six-storey facility be located
on building site number five, covering the parking lot
beside the Engineering Lab Wing and up to 23.6 metres
(77 feet) of lawn, bushes, and trees to the west. The
recommendation will be forwarded to UVic President Dr.
David Turpin.

The committee considered two possible sites for the
building. Each would require the removal of a similar
number of trees. The recommended location was determined
by the importance of its proximity to the Engineering
Lab Wing — to allow for the better integration
of programs and services for students — and its
relative unsuitability for anything but engineering-related
structures. The project planning committee, which is
responsible for identifying the space and program requirements
for the building, indicated a preference for site five
when it reported to the committee at the CDC’s
Jan. 29 meeting.

The CDC recommendation followed a review of an environmental
site assessment by an external consultant which concluded
that the habitat to be removed at site five “is
not unique or of high significance and can be mitigated
by re-establishment in nearby areas.” Replacement
of the parking lot asphalt with permeable surfaces and
the retention of roof run-off from the new building
would significantly improve storm water management at
the site.

Since the new building would affect a limited number
of trees on the eastern edge of the wooded area beside
the Cunningham Building, the CDC also recommended that
the building architect be directed to make every effort
to minimize the impact of the development on what has
recently come to be called Cunningham Woods. Currently,
about 40 trees would need to be removed from the edge
of the 1.7-hectare woods to accommodate the new building
and an emergency vehicle access road. Efforts will be
made to reduce the number of trees removed.

The committee also unanimously recommended that the
university make a significant investment in the restoration
of natural areas on campus to compensate for any intrusion
into the woods and ensure no net loss of trees and habitat.

The committee chose site five over an alternative
(site four) that would have placed the building on the
lawn between the Petch and Elliott Buildings and Ring
Rd. This alternative site would have required the expenditure
of an additional $600,000 for foundation work to overcome
the soil conditions, to extend electrical power and
data lines to the site, and to incorporate services
that would otherwise be shared with the Engineering
Lab Wing at site five. These services include a loading
dock, data lines and emergency back-up power. CDC chair
Jack Falk told the committee that resources could be
found to fund the additional costs and that it didn’t
need to be a factor in the committee’s deliberations.

Site four would remain available for a future science
building and other projects.

The CDC is 25-member body composed of faculty, deans,
students, staff and vice presidents that advises the
president on campus planning matters, and building design
and site selection. It issued a progress report on its
work on a new campus plan on Jan. 29. The report included
a proposal for a 10-year moratorium on development in
wooded areas outside Ring Road and a similar freeze
on building site six, located in the middle of Cunningham
Woods. Approximately 32 per cent of the campus is now
under moratorium or other forms of protection.

The $22-million engineering and computer science building
will be ready for occupancy in fall 2005. It will contain
classrooms for use by all students on campus, undergraduate
and graduate labs, offices, student study spaces, and
space for the engineering and computer science co-op
programs. The provincial government is funding the building
as part of its “Double the Opportunity”
initiative. With the new building, UVic will accommodate
nearly 300 full-time undergraduate and graduate students
in engineering and computer science. At six storeys,
it will be the tallest building on campus.

A dozen protesters, toting foliage, logs and stumps,
gathered in front of the Business and Economics Building
on Feb. 17 to urge the committee to select the lawn
location for the building.